As a fox demon with shallow morals, Hu Li does not have a deep grasp of people's hearts. Although the current situation makes him angry, it is more because his theft has been made public and he is not suitable for being criticized by people around him.
Hu Li's feeling of shame is not deep enough. With his moral conduct and experience, even if he has already understood that stealing is not good in human concepts, it is not enough to have a strong identification with the human race's concept of honor and disgrace in stealing, but the shopkeeper and the people around him The glances and pointing were enough to make him nervous.
So when Ji Yuan said to put the medicine away and leave, Hu Lirulin was amnesty.
"Yes, I'll put it away right now!"
Hu Li quickly shook the sack open and kept sweeping the herbs on the counter into the sack.
When the medicine shop owner nearby heard Ji Yuan's words and saw Hu Li sorting out the medicinal materials, he immediately reached out and grabbed Hu Li's arm.
"What? You were caught and still want to leave? Tell me where did you get the medicinal materials?"
"Let go! Let go!"
Hu Li struggled to free his hand, but the medicine shop owner held on tightly, and suddenly showed a fierce look on his face and bared his teeth at him.
"Bah..."
The fierce look at this moment startled the medicine shop owner. He had never seen such an expression on a person's face, so he subconsciously let go of his hand.
"Why, you are a thief, why do you still want to take action?"
"Yes, do you still want to take action?" "It's just a rooster and a dog robber!"
The waiters in the shop also came to the shopkeeper's side, and there were many people stopping outside. The shopkeeper suddenly felt a lot more courageous, and winked at the others. Two waiters immediately blocked the door. There were even some familiar men outside helping to watch the door.
Hu Li had already packed the medicinal materials and held the sack in his hand, but when he turned around and saw that he seemed to be surrounded, he subconsciously looked at Ji Yuan, but before Ji Yuan could speak, the shopkeeper had already arrived at the door. , stopped there.
"Don't leave. If you don't explain the origin of this herb, follow me to see the official!"
"I've already told you that I went to the mountains to pick it. It hasn't been dried yet. It's not stolen!"
Ji Yuan looked at the shopkeeper from one side, knowing that the other party must have other excuses, but he turned against him because of profit. This kind of person is not very willing to act bravely for the sake of justice.
Sure enough, the shopkeeper said immediately.
"The master herb collector at Qi Caotang, who has been supplying me for a long time, has long said that recently, people often steal the medicinal materials in their courtyard that have not yet been dried, but the thieves are cunning and have never been able to catch them. I see that the medicinal materials you brought today are The master herb collectors from my Qi Caotang!"
"And you, sir, look at your polite appearance. If you are just bewitched by this thief, that's all. If you are still an accomplice, then when you meet the official, the scholar and bachelor's face will not be easy, right?"
Ji Yuan found it a bit funny. He glanced at Hu Li who was a little nervous, then looked around at the people around him, and finally smiled at the shopkeeper.
"If they were traded normally, how much would these medicinal materials be worth?"
"You, why do you ask this?"
"Five old wild ginseng plants of good vintage, and containing Lingzhi, Polygonum multiflorum, Polygonatum japonicus, etc., are they three pieces of money?"
With so many people here, of course the shopkeeper couldn't say nonsense, he could only say a relatively normal number.
"The old ginseng in this bag of medicinal materials is very old. If it is sold normally, ten taels of silver is not too much, but the stolen goods stolen by the thieves are another matter."
Ji Yuan smiled and nodded towards the crowd outside the door. A red-faced and unusually burly man squeezed in from the outside, and he casually separated the people watching the excitement.
"Who?" "You..."
"I don't have eyes..."
Some wanted to curse, but they dared not say anything when they saw the other party like this. Jin Jia also didn't care about the words of others. He swept aside several drug store clerks like children and entered the drug store. Everyone inside bowed to Ji Yuan and saluted, but no honorifics were shouted out.
Jin Jia's entry seemed to extinguish the arrogance of the people in the medicine shop, and they became anxious. It was Jin Jia's physique and demeanor, and it was obvious at a glance that they were not easy to mess with.
"You, what do you want to do? Be careful, I will report you to the official! Hehehehehehe..."
The shopkeeper was immediately grabbed by Jin Jia's clothes and lifted up. He kept kicking his feet off the ground and kept screaming. However, the people around him just moved away and kept a safe distance, and even the waiters in the shop did not dare to approach.
"Of course you are going to see the official. You can also ask the official to summon the old master of your pharmacy for a confrontation. This red-faced follower of mine is impatient and has a bad temper. He hates being wronged, but it is inevitable that he will live up to his words. Naturally, I won’t attack you here until I see the judge and tell you what’s right and what’s wrong!”
"You can also go together."
Ji Yuan said this to the people around him and walked directly out of the palace. Hu Li, who was carrying a sack, and Jin Jia, who was carrying the medicine shop owner, followed behind. No one dared to stand in the way.
"No, no, hero, spare your life, hero, spare your life, hero... I'll give you money, I'll give you money, I'll give you any amount! You guys, stop them, stop them!"
Stop them? Of course, the onlookers would not look for trouble, but the waiters in the shop did not dare to look directly at Jin Jia. They only felt that the big bangzi's fist might be able to kill people directly.
"Hero, hero, I shouldn't be obsessed with things, I shouldn't have wronged people, it's all a villain's greed, it's the villain's fault, hero, villain, give me twenty taels, twenty taels..."
As soon as he arrived on the street, the drug store owner confessed his mistake repeatedly out of strong fear. As a result, the street became even more lively, and everyone followed him to the Yamen.
Hu Li kept laughing loudly along the way, constantly mocking the frightened shopkeeper in Jin Jia's hands.
"Dong dong dong dong dong dong..."
The sound of drumming sounded outside the Yamen...
"Shengtang~~~~~"
The official sat high, and the Yamen officers stood on both sides. The interrogation process was fast but cruel. The prefect, who was observant, saw that Ji Yuan and Jin Jia had an extraordinary bearing. They seemed to have a lot of background. In addition, they hired a so-called master herb collector to confront him. It was very difficult. The truth will soon come to light.
The sentence "Fifty heavy blows" came out of the official's mouth, and immediately some officers severely punished the medicine shop owner.
"Bang..." "Bang..." "Bang..." "Bang..."
"Ah... uh ah... ah... have mercy on... ah... uh ah... oh... ah..."
The board was knocked down, and the screams made Hu Li feel terrified. The owner of the drug store screamed until his throat became hoarse, and he almost fainted from pain. The people watching the excitement outside the hall were also silent.
"Hu Li, what do you think?"
Hu Li swallowed and whispered.
"Sir, is this too much? It's only twenty boards and he can't hold on anymore. If it's fifty boards, will he die?"
"This official doesn't know how serious the punishment is. If you take fifty strokes, you will probably die."
"Ah? What, sir, what should we do?"
Seeing that Hu Li was anxious, Ji Yuan turned to look at him and asked with a smile.
"He cheated on you with medicinal materials before. Are you worried about him?"
"This, this is different! It's different! Of course I'm angry that he wronged me and tried to cheat me of medicinal materials, but beating him to death is too much, and he's still a doctor! Sir, please tell them to stop, twenty Half of Duo Ban's life is gone. Enough is enough, the intensity is enough..."
"Ha ha ha ha… "
Ji Yuan chuckled a few times, and Hu Li felt that the surroundings suddenly became hazy, blurry like clouds and fog, making him feel a little dizzy.
But the next moment, as if his drowsiness had popped a bubble in his nose, Hu Li woke up again. There were no courts or officials around, but they were clearly still in the drug store, and he was collecting medicinal materials on the counter.
At this moment, the drug store owner's hand happened to grab Hu Li's arm. Hu Li looked at the drug store owner, only to find that the other person's eyes were dazed for a moment before he recovered, and then there was a faint sense of panic and fear on his face.
"Why, shopkeeper, won't you let me leave?"
Ji Yuan's voice came from the side, shocking both Hu Li and the shopkeeper out of their daze.
The drug store owner immediately withdrew his hand, looked around nervously, touched his face and then his butt and back, panting slightly with a look of joy.
"No, it's nothing. Just now, just now I'm rude, do you two want to sell these medicinal materials? I'll give you ten taels, no, I'll give you twenty taels!"
Hu Li's eyes widened and he turned to look at Ji Yuan, who smiled.
"The medicine belongs to you. Of course you decide whether to sell it or not. What do you want me to do?"
"Sell! Then don't go back on your word, you said it was twenty taels!"
"Yes, yes, no regrets, no regrets!"
The shopkeeper hurriedly returned to the counter to get the money. During this period, he saw the stunned waiters in his shop and the people watching the excitement outside, and he immediately shouted at them.
"Go, go, go to work!"
"And everyone, it was a misunderstanding just now, a misunderstanding, I admitted the wrong person, wronged a good person, it is all a misunderstanding, let it go!"
After repeatedly chasing people away, the shopkeeper took the silver and weighed it casually, then walked out of the counter and handed it to Hu Li.
"Twenty taels of silver, please accept it with a smile. I was offended by a villain just now, and I am rude. I still hope Haihan, but still hope Haihan!"
Hu Li took the money in a daze, and when he saw the shopkeeper saluting and apologizing sincerely, the anger in his heart disappeared. After holding the money in hand and returning the gift, he left the drug store with Ji Yuan.
The medicine shop owner stood at the door and kept saluting the two of them. Then, with palpitations in his heart, he saw a tall, burly, red-skinned man following the two of them away from the shop...
After Ji Yuan and the other three walked a while, the sight around them dimmed. Hu Li, who had received the silver, was very happy. He stuffed part of the money into the prepared purse and kept playing with the ingot of silver in his hand, as happy as a child.
"Sir, I have money. Twenty taels is quite a lot, right? By the way, sir, did the shopkeeper also see what happened in the Yamen and the fight just now?"
Ji Yuan did not answer directly, but looked at Hu Li and then at the golden armor and the little paper crane standing on its head.
"Of course I get a lot of money, but the right and wrong is more important than money. What the shopkeeper shows is human nature, and what you show is also human nature. Which one is good and which is evil, which is right and which is wrong?"
"But I'm a demon?"
"Hahahahaha..."
Ji Yuan laughed loudly, said nothing, and walked forward quickly. Hu Li quickly chased after him.
"Hey, sir, it's me who is right, right? It won't be him, right?"